In honour of all of the sales on at the moment, I thought I’d come up with a super quick run down on what the main differences are between popular watches.
Vivomove HR vs VivoActive 3
The VivoMove HR isn’t a GPS watch, whereas the VivoActive actually is. The VivoActive does have advanced workouts and has profiles and metrics for running, swimming and cycling.
Verdict: The VivoMove HR is an activity tracker, not a running watch.
VivoActive 3 vs Garmin 235
These are both great options for a runninng watch and although the VivoActive has slightly more battery life, it’s a much of a muchness. The VivoActive has a few additional features like Garmin Pay, a Thermometre, a Barometre, a Compass, Move IQ and allows for a whole lot more activity profiles and rep counting. And it has more options for golfing, swimming and cycling. Where it misses out is on some of the more advanced running features like cadence, recovery time, training effect, audio prompts and manual lap. Plus, it’s only capable of keeping a history of 7 activities.
Verdict: If you are looking for a smart watch which does most things that you need in a running watch, the VivoActive is a great choice. But for full running geek effect pick the 235.
VivoActive 3 vs Garmin Fenix 5S
The battery life is similar, but where the VivoActive can only keep a history of 7 activities, the Fenix has memory for a whole lot more. The Fenix doesn’t have Garmin Pay, but it does have all the advanced running features of the Garmin 235 and then some. Some of the additions include training status, training load and performance condition.
Verdict: Again it comes down to smart watch vs running watch. If you want a running watch, grab the Fenix.
Garmin Fenix 5S vs 5
The Garmin Fenix 5 has about double the battery life of the 5S. Other than that the features are all pretty much the same.
Verdict: You can pick the one you like the look of here, unless you are running ultras and the battery life is important.
Garmin Fenix 5s v Garmin 235
In terms of battery life these are similar, and the Garmin 235 has a whole range of advanced features like custom workouts and running dynamics that make it an awesome running watch. But the Fenix builds on this with a whole bunch of extras including: additional activity profiles, training effect, strava segments, virtual partner, training status and load, workout effect and performance condition.
Verdict: The 235 does pretty much all you would need, but if you want a full range of running dynamics, analysis and stats, get the Fenix.
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